


Birthdays and Bears

by Amari



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Build-A-Bear, Lots of Joel being weird, M/M, So cute it'll give you diabetes, also, but that's nothing new, now is it?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-07
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2018-01-03 22:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1073678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amari/pseuds/Amari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting kidnapped out of the office was something Ray had grown used to after he started going out with Joel. Blindfolds, however, were normally not part of that. Joel was damn lucky that Ray didn't get car sick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthdays and Bears

“You are so lucky I don’t get car sick, or motion sick, or whatever kind of sick I should reasonably be.” Ray stated, trying to hide a slight irritation. Right now he was sitting in the passenger seat of Joel’s car, blindfolded. In his current state of blindness, he could feel every single bump Joel managed to hit on the road, and only a faint idea when Joel turned a corner. It was like his skin was being pulled by a ghost, pushing the man to the side and setting him straight once the turn was finished.  Thank fuck for the seatbelt that strapped him in place.

Joel’s hand twitched on the steering wheel, “There’s a reason there’s a bucket between your legs.”

Oh, so that’s what Ray’s foot had been tapping against the entire time. He had no idea what was going on when Joel suddenly burst through the Achievement Office doorway, tied the blindfold around his head, and literally threw Ray over his shoulder. It wasn’t the first time Joel had removed Ray in this fashion, but it was the first time a blindfold was involved.  

A first few attempts to get information out of the older man as to where they were going only led to grunts and/or “somewhere.” An answer Ray thought was incredibly uncreative for Joel to say. After getting the same response a few more times, Ray knew that it would just be better to quit asking and hold on.

Oh, somewhere in here, Ray should mention that today is his birthday. Because yeah, birthdays are a thing, and that’s part of the reason Ray isn’t screaming like he should be. Another part is that he’s honestly used to his boyfriend’s shenanigans. Every day with Joel is an adventure in some part. Hell, even making coffee in the morning can turn into a 30 minute conversation about the life of the coffee bean that’s being turned into morning energy. So being blind in a car was just another drop in the ocean of weird that was Joel Heyman.

After what seemed like over half an hour, he felt the car finally stop. Ray craned his neck over to the direction of where Joel would be and asked him if they arrived. The soft click of the door and movement of the car itself told Ray his answer. A second later and his own door was opening. He felt Joel’s warm body reach across him as Joel undid his belt.

“Watch your head.” Joel said as he carefully pulled the younger man out of the car. A hand placed on Ray’s head just to make sure he didn’t bash his skull in and he was out. Disoriented, sure, but hey, at least he didn’t feel like he was swimming in a sea of “why aren’t I puking?” anymore.

“Alright, seriously Joel, where the hell are we?” Ray asked straightening up when Joel put his hands right on his hips. From the direction of his fingers, Joel was behind Ray, and gently urged him forward.

“We are at a place.”  Joel answered seriously. Well, as seriously as Joel could ever sound.

Ray smiled anyway as he let himself be pushed around, “No fucking shit, Joel.”

Ray’s head perked up as he heard the cacophony of sounds suddenly surround him. A jumble of voices seemingly to erupt from nowhere. So, they were at a place with lots of people.  And from the growing amount of high-pitched squeals that made his skin crawl, they were getting close to children as well.

Suddenly, Joel stopped Ray and eagerly told him that they made it. Ray relaxed and felt the blindfold tug a few times before slipping from his face. His eyes recognized a faint brown from the light hitting his eyelids. With a prompt from Joel, black eyelashes fluttered open to take in the sight in front of him.

They were at the mall, and in front of one very particular store.

The first thing that Ray noticed was the overwhelming amount of golden orange and blue. Two large columns on each side of him, encasing a giant teddy bear in each one. Inside the store lined up on small racks in the immediate entrance were small plushies of all sorts of animals; mini versions of the ones that lined the wall to the right. On the left wall hang various colored tiny outfits, ranging from cheerleader skirts to camo gear.

Build-a-Bear.

Joel actually brought a now-25-year-old man to Build-a-Bear.

“Joel, what—why are we here?” overwhelming exasperation was in Ray’s voice as he asked.

 With a look of disbelief, Ray turned to Joel, just to make sure this was actually happening. He was met with a wide grin, teeth overlapping Joel’s bottom lip that just burst out into full-on laughter seconds later. Gut wrenching laughter that had a few people looking at them as Joel wheezed out a painful sounding “Happy Birthday Ray.” He was holding on to his stomach from laughing so hard. Ray wasn’t quite sure what was so funny about it, but Joel’s laughter was a little (a lot) contagious, and he found himself smiling too.

Ray quirked an eyebrow, “Joel, are we really doing this? Are we?”

Joel took a few breaths before answering, “Nah, we can go shopping at Spencer’s or something.”

When Joel reached down to take Ray’s hand and lead him away, Ray swatted his hand away.

“No, we are fucking doing this.” Ray demanded.

Joel blinked in disbelief.

Ray pointed toward the inside of the store. “I’m making a goddamn teddy bear, I’ve always wanted one, you have no idea. And since it’s my birthday, you’re paying.”

As Ray literally skipped inside the store, Joel burst into laughter once again. He wiped a tear from his eye. There were many times were Ray gave Joel shit for not acting his age, so it was wonderful to see Ray do the same. Also, he actually kind of wanted a bear too.

So Joel walked over to Ray who was hopping around the empty fuzzy skins of animals near the wall. The young man seemed to be stuck between the Midnight Bear and the Fennec Fox. Holding up both skins he pouted to his boyfriend who only smiled in return. Not happy with that response, Ray just shoved the fox skin in Joel’s face, rubbing it in as Joel tried pulling away. Both men giggling the entire time as Joel ‘fought’ back as Joel grabbed the black bear out of Ray’s other hand and shoved it in Ray’s face.

They decided that after the face rubbing, they should probably get them both. Kids don’t deserve to have ‘old man’ on their stuffed animals. Ray had the bear, and Joel had the fox. Joel told Ray that it was just as ‘foxy’ as he was. Joel earned a roll of the eyes in return.

With skins in hand they wandered over to get their new friends some hearts. Something Ray doesn’t have, Joel teased. They opted out of getting some squeaky sound clip telling them it loved them, because they didn’t need to have a stuffed animal tell them that. They already knew they were loved.

By their empty stuffed animal, of course.

And they prodded their way over to the stuffing station. The woman sitting on the small stool next to the stuffing hose looked them both up and down before smiling sweetly at Ray. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and not-so-discreetly puffed her chest out.

“Hello, you ready to stuff your forever friend and bring him to life?” She asked, to Ray specifically, sugar dripping off her every word.

Oh dear god, what kind of shit was she trying to pull? Ray swallowed as he felt Joel’s protective hand scrunch itself into the middle of the back of his shirt. His only response to the woman was a smile and a nod before handing his bear over.  Her fingers brushed Ray’s hand when taking the animal and he shivered.

While she took the tag and ID’d the ‘friend’ before telling Ray that he had complete control of the stuffing process by stepping on the pedal. And so he did, and she went to work filling the bear with stuffing.

“So, what brings you here today?” The woman asked batting her eyelashes again. She’s terrible at flirting, and just looks like she has a problem with her eyes. On second thought, maybe that’s actually the problem.

Ray smirked before patting his own chest, “It’s my birthday.”

“Awww.” She cooed before looking over to Joel, “And your dad brought you here?”

Joel sputtered, “Goddamn lady, I know I’m a little old, but seriously?”

Ray was sent into a fit of giggles, “Ah, no, he’s just my best buddy. Kind of like a different kind of forever friend.  Old. But good.”

 “Oh, my mistake,” the woman quickly apologized, but the embarrassed blush on her face didn’t go away.

Indeed it was her mistake, and not one Joel was feeling far too forgiving about. He was literally opening his mouth to say something along the lines of ‘yeah, I get to fuck my forever friend unlike you’ but Ray, knowing his boyfriend more than anyone, covered his mouth before he spoke. Muffled noises crept between Ray’s fingers, but there was no harm done.

The bitterness that was bubbling inside Joel quickly subsided when Ray swiped his thumb along the bottom of his chin. Just a gentle reminder that there was no need to worry. Ray’s touch always set Joel at ease, and this was just another example.

The woman, still utterly embarrassed, went into a default politeness and tried to hurry the two as fast as possible.  Taking Joel’s fox and barely looking him in the eyes, she filled the skin. A sense of victory came over Joel and he just looked down at the woman with a smirk. Ray only rolled his eyes and tugged him away by the sleeve once she finished up.

The wandered over to the lineup of computers against the other wall. It was time for them to name their forever friends and make them officially theirs.  With all the other computers taken up by booger-picking children, Ray went to the remaining computer and sat down. Joel nuzzled his chin into the crook of Ray’s neck and hummed while Ray filled in the prompts.

“What’s his name?” Joel asked as the screen asked the same thing.

Ray grunted and rapped his knuckles against Joel’s forehead, “It’s not a he, it’s a she, and her name is…. Lutzie.”

“Lutzie. What the hell kind of name is that?”

“Joel, language, kids.”

“Don’t care, what kind of name is that?”

Ray shook his head finishing up the process, “A good name, what are you going to name yours?”

Joel smirked, “You’ll just have to wait.”

And then putting his full weight on Ray, he forced Ray to slide out of the blue chair he was seated in.  For a moment, he was bent over the back of the chair with his arms stretched out over the keyboard. His shirt riding up and showing the teeniest bit of his stomach.  Ray was half tempted to smack his bony ass as it stuck up in the air. Instead, he just gave that perky rear a nice little pinch, earning a satisfying squeak from the other.

“Hey!” Joel growled , rubbing his butt.

“Hey what?”  Ray smirked.

“My butt!” Joel exclaimed.

Ray chuckled, “You have a nice butt, yeah, why don’t you sit on it?”

Joel sighed, “Fiiiiine.” And sat down in the chair, filling out the name.

“His name will be Marcus!” Joel claimed excitedly.

And of course, Ray asked him why he chose the name, only for Joel to ask Ray the same question. The conversation went nowhere, only for a bit of name calling to happen between the two of them, and then a chorus of laughter that followed.

Next in the seemingly never ending process of making a bear and a fox came the clothing. The expensive fabric came in every color imaginable, and even adorable shoes to match. What stuck out to Ray though was a checker board outfit. It was a blue t-shirt with the imprint of a checkerboard vest, with jean shorts to match. Carefully he dressed his bear making sure not to rip off any of the tags.

“That seems pretty manly for a girl bear.” Joel teased as he pulled a black skull hoodie over Marcus.

“Shut up, don’t judge Lutzie’s life choices!” Ray spat back, “And what are you doing? Making Marcus look just like you?”

Joel simply shrugged, “Well, Marcus is supposed to be my forever friend, and I feel like in order to be true friends we need to have a similar sense of fashion.”

Ray just shook his head at Joel, before putting Lutzie up on the counter so Joel could pay and they could get out. Joel took his sweet ass time making sure that Marcus had just the right shoes on all four paws, and the ears were peeking out of the hood just right before carefully placing the fox on the counter. They only received a few funny looks from the woman on the other side as they continued their game of teasing one another, eventually having Joel pinch Ray’s cheek endearingly.

With large white boxes, the new homes for their friends, in hand, they left. Ray held his box close. Lutzie wasn’t just a friend, it was a reminder of the love Joel had for him. Something special, and even more special because it was his birthday.

“Hey Joel?” Ray threw the words into the air.

“Yeah?” Joel turned to the younger.

Ray leaned forward on his tippy toes to plant a cute kiss on Joel’s cheek, “Thank you.”

“No problem. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

This was the best kidnapping ever.


End file.
